Shared resources are usually no problem for small to medium sized web sites. Your main constraint is the lack of control over system level software - http servers, mail servers etc. You don't have any choice of operating-system and you also cannot put together programs or do admin tasks such as setting up Spam filters or firewalls.

A lot of people might say 'So what? I'm not going to do that stuff anyway!' It's correct that the majority of webmasters have no desire or ability to handle this sort of work and are happy to leave it to the hosting company. People who desire more control over their own server environment or wish to experiment with new software program, however, could get access to this level of management with a Virtual Server Hosting.

A virtual private server (VPS) is a physical server that is divided (utilizing software) into several virtual machines, each one acting as an independent dedicated server. The physical resources such as Memory, CPU and storage space are still shared, but each VPS acts independently of the others. Each Virtual private server can have a different operating system and can be configured in whatever way possible.

The crucial advantage of Virtual Server Hosting is enabling each administrator access to the root level of his virtual server hosting. This kind of access permits the administrator to install and delete software, set permissions, create accounts - in short, do everything that the administrator of a 'real' sever can.

As well as offering more control over your hosting environment, a Virtual Server Hosting is a lot more safe than shared hosting. Web-sites on a shared server all have the exact same operating system, so if a hacker were to find access to the root of the server they could damage any or all of the web sites on that server. A Virtual private server, on the other hand, is divided in a way that even if a hacker were to gain access through one account, it's impossible to get into the others. Each virtual server hosting account is invisible to the others and there is no way to set up root level access from one Virtual private server to another.

Virtual server hosting may be set up in various ways so be sure to know the way the web hosting company has allocated resources. The most typical configuration is to partition all the physical resources equally by the quantity of accounts. Thus, if there are 10 virtual servers, each would be given 10% of the complete bandwidth, CPU, storage and disk space.

The disadvantages of virtual server hosting are almost the same as the advantages. The control that a VPS account offers can be dangerous unless you know what you are doing. You have the ability to delete data files, set permissions improperly, enable virus-laden software on the system and, in general, genuinely mess things up. If you do not possess the expertise to administer a server, or are not willing to learn, virtual server hosting isn't for you.

In case your web sites has outgrown shared web hosting, however, virtual server hosting offers an affordable substitute for dedicated hosting. When researching a virtual server host, be certain to find out how system resources are split up, the quantity of virtual server hosting accounts on each physical server, the manner for upgrading, and the choices of operating systems.